Systems, Man & Cybernetics - January 2016 - 35

Under my leadership, the CityU CS
subject area is ranked 45th and 51st-
100th worldwide in the Academic
Ranking of World Universities 2015
and the QS World Ranking, respectively. Based on the most recent 2015
U.S. News & World Report survey,
CityU ranked 16th worldwide in the
CS subject area.
I am pleased and honored to
have been elected vice president for
conferences and meetings for the
IEEE SMCS. I will contribute my

two decades of industrial, academic,
and administrative experience, as
well as my passionate and committed efforts, to construct my vision
for IEEE SMCS and to serve our
SMC community. As vice president,
I aim to make SMCS conferences
globally renowned by using the
Society's prowess in SMC to bring
its research in the field to unprecedented levels, thus attracting all
segments of IEEE to participate actively in our conferences. In turn,

this will attract members talented in
multiple disciplines to contribute to
SMC research.
In summary, my vision is to
create a virtuous cycle of increased
prestige and inflows of talent, highquality research in strategic areas,
and active IEEE participation in
SMCS conferences, which will further enhance the SMCS' reputation. I believe that together we can
take SMCS and its conferences to
new heights.

by M.E. El-Hawary

EEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Ma ga zin e publ ishes
special sections on emerging
topics guest-edited by distinguished
researchers in areas of interest to
IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (SMCS) members.
The guidelines presented here are
designed to encourage and help
potential guest editors (GEs) with
planning and editing of a special
section (SS) of the magazine. GEs
are asked to review the scope of
the magazine to ensure the suitability of any proposed topic. Help
for potential GEs with evaluating
topic suitability is available from
the magazine's editor-in-chief (EiC),
associate editors (AEs), and the
IEEE SMCS vice presidents for publications, systems, cybernetics, and
human-machine systems.
Once the GEs have decided to
propose a special section, they are invited to submit a number of items to
the EiC.
◆ The EiC needs the theme and a
brief description (scope) of the

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2016.2536840
Date of publication: 6 June 2016

General Guidelines
for Special Sections
SS; its relevance, importance,
and need in the present context;
a list of specific SS topics; and
a provisional list of potential
authors to determine if there are
sufficient researchers to support
such an SS. While an SS based
on papers from a conference may
be considered, the SS would be
organized based on an open call
for papers.
◆ The EiC requires a brief description of the state of the art in the
proposed area and a justification for why the proposed SS
could be of interest to IEEE
Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Magazine readers (including
any knowledge gaps in the published literature.) Keep in mind
that the GE is expected to write
an editorial that introduces the
Ja nu a r y 2016

rest of the articles in the SS. This
description should be written as
a prelude to that editorial.
◆ Also required is a brief biography for each GE, emphasizing
research experience and previous editorial experience. Please
note that the SMCS strives for
geographic diversity in the set of
SS GEs.
◆ The EiC's decision to accept the
proposal comes only after consultation with current AEs whose
areas of expertise coincide or
significantly overlap with the
main subject of the SS. Additional
material could be requested as
part of this process.
◆ Following acceptance of the
SS, the GE is asked to prepare
(continued on page 44)

IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE

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